The number of hours young people spend doing PE and sport in secondary schools in England has fallen by more than 12% since the 2012 London Olympics, despite promises by ministers that the games would “inspire a generation” and kickstart a massive expansion of sport in the state sector.
The fall is recorded in the latest figures released by the government, which show a drop from 326,277 hours in 2011/12 to 285,957 in 2022/3. Although the total went back up after the pandemic, it then fell again over the last year by more than 4,000 hours.
In a speech as prime minister in 2012, David Cameron said it was vital that the London Games spurred his government to improve the provision of sport in state schools, which he admitted had been underfunded for far too long.
Cameron insisted there was “one area in particular where the Olympic spirit of taking part can make a real difference to young people. And that is school sport and helping to drive participation in sport itself.”
His words were greeted with scepticism at the time by sports organisations, not least because his education secretary, Michael Gove, had systematically dismantled a network of school sports partnerships set up by the Labour government, in order to save money, as one of his first acts at the Department for Education.
Amid the mounting excitement before Sunday’s Women’s World Cup final, in which England play Spain in Australia, Labour insists that the government should get no credit for the team’s successes, having presided over the erosion of school sport during the past 13 years.
Despite the fall in PE hours ministers say they have injected more than £2bn extra into school sports.
Lucy Powell, the shadow digital, culture, media and sport secretary, said the “entire nation” was behind the women’s team, whose success was “giving all girls the chance to play football” and helping the women’s game “go from strength to strength”.
But she warned against people being taken in by the attempts of Tory ministers to cash in on the team’s success. “The government can take no credit given their woeful record on school sport and getting young girls playing football,” she said.
Football analysts put the extraordinary success of the women’s game in England down to the rise of the Women’s Super League, which has allowed elite female footballers to become professionals, combined with a growing focus on girls’ and women’s football from governing body the Football Association. These factors, rather than government intervention or policies, have been seen as the catalyst.
As part of Labour’s mission to “smash the class ceiling” in educational opportunity, Keir Starmer’s party has pledged to conduct a curriculum and assessment review to ensure girls and boys do not miss out on sport in school.
Writing to Sarina Wiegman, the manager of the England team, prime minister Rishi Sunak – who is not attending the final in Sydney but has sent foreign secretary James Cleverly – reiterates the pledge to deliver for girls on sport. He also acknowledges the struggle that women have had as they have battled to gain equality of access and recognition.
Sunak tells the England boss: “This weekend, like millions of others, I will be watching and cheering you on. But whatever the result, I want you to know that you have already secured a lasting legacy: that every girl in this country will have equal access to all school sport, including football. When you won the Euros last summer, you could have chosen merely to celebrate an unprecedented achievement. But you saw that success as the beginning of your mission, not the end.
“For many of you, the honour of putting on that England shirt was earned against the odds. It should never have been like that. At times, some of you were even stopped from playing. But you faced down outdated attitudes and fashioned your own opportunities to play.
“So when you walk out with pride to play for England, you are not just making memories that will stay with us as part of our history, you are playing for a different future.”
